8/13/2008

Houston Homeowner is cleared in a defensive gun use case

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A homeowner who shot and killed a man breaking into his home was no billed by a Harris County grand jury Wednesday.

Last December, Damon Barone, his wife, six-year-old son and baby were at home when he heard the sounds of someone breaking in. He says he grabbed his gun.

"While it was happening, I felt like I needed to protect my family. I was more so worried about their safety over being scared or nervous," Barone told Eyewitness News last year.

When Barone saw a man who investigators later determined was Steven Dunbar, 44, coming through the window, the homeowner shot the intruder.

It turned out Dunbar had a lengthy criminal record.

Barone said at the time of the incident he'll never feel guilty for what he did, only sorry that there is now a family elsewhere that is grieving because their loved one tried to enter someone else's home.

1 Comments:

Anonymous said...

OK, the guy was "no-billed" by the grand jury.

I wonder if this case would appear in the FBI UCR table "killing of a felon during commission of a felony by a citizen"? The UCR does bill itself as representing police crime report, and NOT representing subsequent finding by coroner, ME, DA, grand jury, trial jury, judge or appellate court.